Paradise Pen Company

Here is another business idea, a pen store. Business people and other professionals often like to have nice pens and some collect them. And you can sell ink, pen holders, crafty wooden boxes to hold pens and high end journals as well. Would a business like the succeed in Sumner? That is a good question because a similar store failed and it was right on Main Street and close to the rail, what I think is the best business location in Sumner.

I am guessing the best chance for success would be to also have an online presence. Now the problem with this idea is obvious, people are using keyboards and touch screens not pens. Think about how many people you have heard mention their handwriting has suffered because they use computers for everything. But, if you could be one of the top ten hits on Google for writing pens you would have a shot at making a go of it.

Trader Joes

Caught the Patch article about Trader Joe's not planning to open a store in Bonney Lake, Sumner or Puyallup. Bummer. Though it is not that far away to get to Tacoma where there is one.

Trevor Waltos, Sumner Alumni, is Santa

The Sumner Santa Christmas parade down Main Street on Saturday was a blast, but one person is showing up on media all over including the Tribune. That would be Trevor Waltos, with his natural white beard.
However, truth be told, I think his daughter's, the elves, outgunned him. And the weather cooperated, which is always a plus.

Business Idea: Cinebistro

We went to see the James Bond Skyfall movie at the Richmond VA StoneyPoint Fashion Mall Cinebistro. It is an interesting concept, adult only. You have a meal and a bottle of wine while some lovely scenic footage is shown, then you finish your meal while the standard movie previews are shown. They have a bar so if you arrive early there is a place to hang out.

By staggering the show times, the same staff is able to serve multiple movies, a standard movie theater concept.

While I like the idea of upscale dinner and a movie I do not think I would want to franchise a Cinebistro. The menu is fairly awful and I have had the greatest heartburn from their meatloaf and hamburger and I eat in restaurants all the time and do not usually have problems. So, I would prefer to style it myself. Even better would be to partner with a local restaurant.

One final concern is the economics. I have been to Cinebistro six times and only once was it packed out. There were four couples for Skyfall, now granted this was the 4:30 PM showing and it was a Thursday, but you still have a lot of fixed costs you have to pay.

Free food - Sumner High School

For the 8th year, Sumner High School student volunteers are having a free dinner for the community. I have lived in a number of places and have never seen such a thing; awesome Spartans. And the story is showing up on the web, I just caught a note from the Bellingham Herald.

A note from principal Bill Gaines says the event is dependent on contributions from the community so if you go, give something if you can. It will be in the gym on December 8 from noon to 4 PM. Entertainment will be provided by the school's jazz band.

More info available from Sumner Patch.

There is still time to catch White Christmas in Sumner

ManeStage theater is running the musical White Christmas at the Sumner performing arts center. Here is a Patch article with the dates.

Help save the Blue Mouse Theater - Tacoma

The Kickstarter project is called Go Digital or Go Dark. Apparently they are not going to make 35mm films available in the future.

The Blue Mouse is Washington's only theater and is a short drive from Bonney Lake - Sumner. I am going to make my donation right now.

Update NOV 28, 2012: Kickstarter just wrote and they are at 35% funded. If you have any chance to publish on Twitter or Facebook or your blog, it would be a real help. Thanks to King 5 for airing the story! From the email: "Kickstarter is a ALL OR NOTHING CAMPAIGN. If we dont reach our goal of Over $75,000 WE GET NOTHING, Your credit card DOES NOT get charged and you dont recieve any rewards or tax deduction. Thats why this campaign is so important. I know I can count on you. Thank you again FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT. I appreciate you so much and your kindness."

Update January 3, 2013 They got the money so the Blue Mouse is going to be able to continue operations. There is going to be a party on January 11, 2013, 25.00 entry fee gets you an experience with a movie star and a Blue Mouse T-shirt. Best to get a ticket in advance.

Austin Miller IcyLife

I thought the Bonney Lake-Sumner Patch article on teen Austin Miller was well done and inspiring.

It will be fun to watch their facebook page grow.

Drive sober or get pulled over

They say the focus is Black Friday, but I will bet it goes the whole holiday season. According to the Century Council 31% of driving fatalities or 32,000 plus people in 2010 were attributed to drunk driving.

Pierce county is cracking down with extra police crews on the road and that includes Sumner and Bonney Lake. Be careful out there.

Sumner Hometown Holiday Celebration 11/10/12

Be there or be square. These downtown events are so much fun, you should find lots to look at and a morstel of food is a distinct possibility. Last year, one of the antique dealers had these amazing home baked chocolate oatmeal cookies. I have never had anything like it and have not been able to deduce the recipe.

Farrell's Pizza

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Sumner. It is located off Main Street in the Fred Meyer complex. It is what I would call classy and casual. Tile floors in a new building, clearly purpose built to be a restaurant. The really high ceilings give the feeling of not being cramped in. I like the family photos on the walls.

They have the classic wood fired oven, a popular happy hour that works even better because the have a separate bar/lounge area from the more traditional family style restaurant. The tables area is in sections and they don't open them contiguously unless they need all tables, this helps with noise. The kitchen is in the center and the kitchen is a fantastic layout. There is also a game area. The booths are comfy and big enough. Not a complaint, but over the years I bet they have had some great collisions as the servers are bringing food down the middle aisle and a patron suddenly stands up.

Kathy had the gluten free pizza with their RPG ( Roasted Pepper and Garlic ) red sauce, mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes and a side salad. Farrells is the only place I know of where she orders a red sauce. I had the chopped salad. I have no idea what is in their house made salad dressing, but it is good. Our server was Chelsea, who was friendly and competent, but did let Kathy's water glass stay empty. That does seem to be an issue at many Sumner restaurants. Price before tip was $39.47, so a good value as well.

If you think you will come more than once consider joining the "Fire Club". That is the name of their loyalty club.

Manta.com ( Sumner businesses )

I had never seen this web site before and I was trying to research existing businesses in Sumner because we would like to strive for whitespace, not repeating what someone else is already doing.

It is awesome and I had no idea, Manta.com was such a powerful resource or that Sumner had so many job producing businesses.

WinCo of Sumner

You have to pay with cash or a debit card and bag your own itemns, but that helps them deliver good prices on selected items. Just like Costco and Wal-Mart, not everything is a great deal, but there are some great deals.

There are also some carefully thought out selections, so I enjoy going up and down every aisle. And as it tends to be the case in Sumner, a very friendly staff.

Aversano's Italian Restaurant

Aversano's is a charming restaurant in an increasingly challenging location just off Main Street in Sumner. The anchor to the shopping center is a closed supermarket. I guess Fred Meyer was too much for them. I would guess it is about 50% vacant.

Love the atmosphere, stained glass lamps, lots of brick and wood, historic photos at every table, cheerful beer signs. It has an awesome bar created in 1897 that has been around the world. There is a large private gathering room with a private bar. There are a few TVs, but they are not the focus and they were muted tonight. It is family friendly, a number of families with small children were there.

It is pretty much your standard Italian menu; there are gluten free options for both pasta and pizza. They have a salad bar, which I think is pretty nifty. There are not a lot of salad bars in Sumner. It is a fairly sizable staff, I noticed three cooks in the Kitchen and four servers on the floor at 5:00 PM.

Our server was Abby, she did not offer to refill my water when it was empty, but they serve nice big plastic cups so that was not a critical issue. Even though to restaurant is well designed with a glass partition above the booths to give some separation from the bar, you can tell this place can get a bit noisy when nearing capacity and alcohol is loosening people's tongues.

Kathy had the gluten free, vegetarian pizza. I had the BBQ chicken. We both made a trip to the salad bar, that added $5.99 to Kathy's tab. We shared a bottle of Grandpa Don's red wine ( I will keep my out for that in stores, it was pretty good). Price before gratuity was 58.72, which I considered a good value and we have plenty leftovers for tomorrow.

Sumner retail part 4 (small town business ideas)

I just did a Google search for "Best small town business ideas" Here are a few that jumped out at me from the posts I read. Instead of an exhaustive list, I chose things I think I can actually do, would enjoy, and that I think there might be white space in Sumner:

Start a taxi or limo service

Soapmaking, sell designer soaps

Virtual assistant, help busy people with their email and such

Personal shopper, do grocery shopping for really busy people

In home chef, make meals for people at their homes

Proof reader, technical editor

Eldercare

Custom frame shop

Custom t-shirts

Sign maker

Painting business

Canoe and kayak store

Photography

Wine tasting

Couple's retreat

Bakery

Choclatier

Freelance writer

Concierge

Construction cleanup

SEO consultant

Insurance portfolio creator

Meeting planning

Woodland Park Greenhouse

We stopped in today what a great operation. A large number of the plants in our yard started out there. Their prices are very fair and here is a tip. When you get your flat, look for the older gentleman. He stares at all the plants thoughtfully and comes up with a very reasonable price.

Dragon Ball Restaurant and Lounge

We stopped in today for early dinner at this restaurant in on Main Street in downtown Sumner WA. It is an interesting building. Essentially a gravel parking lot. A lot of effort went into the decor inside, but it is showing some wear; the restaurant is five years old.

We both ordered Kung Po dishes or at least that is what it said on the menu. Our waiter asked how spicy we wanted on a scale of 1 to 5, a nice touch, we answered 3.5 -4. Brown rice is not an option, you are seeing that more and more with Chinese restaurants. The food took a little longer to arrive than I would have expected considering that it is a wok dish. In terms of flavor, it was too salty ( always a risk with soy sauce) and I could not taste the black vinegar that you expect with Kung Pao. The spicing from a heat perspective was fine, we could have easily done 4 and with a beer, 5. There was a bit less meat than you usually see, but to be honest I am trying to increase my intake of vegetables so that was fine with me. I can't say for sure there was monosodium glutimate, but as I write this I have that little headache in the front part of my brain.

Kathy also ordered the egg flower soup, thought it was comforting and the appropriate thickness. I had a TsingTao beer, total before tip was $27.55.

The bottom line, if I had guests that wanted to go out for Asian style food, I think I would recommend the Riverside Mongolian Grill at 725 River Road in nearby Puyallup. Also, there is nothing particularly wrong with the Dragon Ball, but nothing that screams "WOW" and the price is just a bit above a plate lunch type operation. I continue to think there is an opportunity for a good casual restaurant that is a step above fast food.

Uptown Coffee News

From what I understand, this is the largest restaurant reading publication in the world and to my shame I had never seen one until today. The idea is to create a platform for local businesses to advertise and give you some content to read especially if you are eating alone.

I will try to keep my self objective, but for right now I am not impressed. Print is very small, no local stories, I can't see the point. But I will try to pick up a few episodes and keep my eye open for versions from other areas when I travel.

Great Clips in the Fred Meyer Center

We fly again early this Friday, so I needed to get my hair trimmed. I was lucky enough to get John, he seems to do the best job with my hair of any of them. I will try another place at some point, but there was no wait so I did that while Kathy filled her shopping list at Fred Meyer.

Water Hole Bar and Grill

I wanted to watch some of the Seahawks vs Vikings game and we do not have television, so we popped into the Water Hole. It is a fun place, they have comfortable mint green seats and a couple pool tables.

We both ordered a vodka tonic and it was a doozy, this was most definitely a one drink visit. It was really affordable as well, I paid with a twenty and got 13 dollars back, so $3.50 a drink with tax; wow.

They also have pull tabs. I am not exactly sure what these are, but they are clearly some form of gambling. I did try to look it up on the Internet, but just ran into all the laws and decided this, like almost all gambling, is too complex for me.

Watch it at Wal-Mart

There is no Wal-Mart in Sumner. The closest is in Bonney Lake, the next town up the hill. But we go there sometimes as an alternative to Fred Meyer. Wal-Mart is known for good prices, but you have to shop carefully.

The first thing I noticed was a wine display in the main hall of the food aisle. It was really strange, none of the bottles of wine lined up with the published prices. They were often not even close.

Then in the checkout lane, Kathy did an impulse buy and picked up a National Geographic Magazine, it rang up at $13.99. You can get a year's subscription for $15.00. What a rip off! If the price isn't posted at Wal-Mart, don't put it in your cart was the lesson I learned.

RIP Patrick Durnford

Patrick of the 7000 block of 142nd Avenue East on the other side of 410 than Sumner Middle School was suicidal. He called police and came out with a gun and was shot. We express our condolences to everyone that knew him and also to the Metro police department, that sort of thing is hard on everyone. For further information:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/10/24/2344065/man-fatally-shot-by-metro-swat.html
http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2012/10/25/sumner-man-fatally-shot-by-metro-swat-after-pointing-gun-at-them-is-identified/
http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-suicidal-sumner-man-who-points-weapon-at-police-is-shot-dead-20121024,0,4055701.story

April Ziegele and Dentistry from the Heart

Dr April Ziegele, well known dentist in Sumner, has announced a free dental care day for those in need. The Puyallup Herald carried the story and it is a nice write up.

The organization that came up with the concept is called Dentistry from the Heart. We salute the doctor and the organization.

April has posted some pictures of Dentistry from the heart on Facebook.

Sandy, NYC and Twitter

I have never really been much of a Twitter fan, but it seemed to be the best news source online I could find. And it turns I am not the only one with that observation, here is an article by Reuters. And, this Gigom article shows how quickly false claims were outed by other bloggers and social meda. What I have not seen is articles congratulating Twitter for handling the load OR the Internet itself. And while this has been an interesting experiment in social media, continuity of operations and performance under load, my heart just breaks for the people in the Northeast.

We were supposed to be in Reston VA today for a meeting, but I got diverted, found out on my way to an LAX airport hotel. Interestingly enough all seats on United and Alaska to SEATAC were full, but there were two seats available to Kauai. Tough duty. We will fly back to Sumner on Friday.

Sumner retail part 3

I have to leave the area for an extended period, Kathy and I have tasks in Orange County, Reston, Kauai, San Diego, Richmond VA, Washington DC, Branson MO and that closes out 2012 *ouch*. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Still pondering what retail business could benefit Sumner and provide and income stream for my family. Ideas have come and gone; wine bar/tasting vineyard representative, coffee shop, sewing store, pen store. Today I had a new one, a gentleman's custom suit tailoring operation. I prefer to wear custom suits because I have a signature style: four button long jacket and pants modeled after 5/11 tactical pants.

I have very good reasons for my own suit design; I travel a lot and it is crucial to put your passport, wallet and hotel keys in the same pocket every time. Because when you are timezone spun, you can make critical errors. Kathy also designs clothes and it is white space, we are not competing with any other vendor in Sumner. Who knows, maybe it makes sense.

Great Clips in the Fred Meyer Center

I fly tomorrow to give a keynote at the Orange County ISSA meeting and I was a bit shaggy, so I dropped into the Great Clips off Main Street Sumner.

I slightly prefer the Sport Clips in Bonney Lake, but when I factor in the drive and the fact that I usually have to wait before being serviced, visiting this Sumner location makes a lot of sense. I have had four different stylists and they are all friendly, a hallmark of Sumner businesses, and I usually get a decent cut though this time Kathy says I have "sproikets". Still, I am a lot neater than I would have been and while I have been known to do the Einstein look from time to time, it does not work in a suit.

Mclendon's Push Broom

To quote Becca from Savvy Solutions, Holy Pine Needles Batman! Every year about this time we get showed with pine needles, not just one or two, but a whole green waste container's worth and pine cones as well.

Normally I manage them with my leaf blower, but this was a big thick wet mat. So I needed a weapon of war, a manly push broom. I tried Fred Meyer, but they didn't have what I needed and their dust bins were small and made of flimsy plastic, that just would not do. Besides, any excuse to visit McLendon's Complete Hardware works for me.

They had just what I needed, not as wide as some push brooms, but really thick bristles, perfect for a mass of wet needles. And the dust bin was a big metal one like we used to have in shop class; now we are talking.

While I was checking out, I noticed that November 7 is Ladies Night. I asked the clerk and she had never been, she had been there less than a year, but if you register online you can get a ticket, they will have demonstrations, it sounds really good.

Sumner Postal

As Kathy and I are starting to plan for retirement, I wanted to establish a fixed annuity so there would be an income stream for life. We had done this before for Kathy with a local insurance.

So I found this company, WebAnnuities.com, they may not give the very best rate, but they are incredibly easy to deal with. I went to their web site, answered a few questions and the next thing I know I have a packet in the mail.

The packet had yellow highlighter every place I was supposed to sign or put in information. I made a copy of my driver's license and put the forms in the two UPS envelopes they provided.

While running errands today, I dropped by Sumner Postal off Main Street in the Fred Meyer Center and gave them the UPS envelopes and that was that. While I was in Postal, I noticed a couple things about this business as well. First they are selling a used Ricoh copy machine; looks like a good deal. Second, as so many other businesses in Sumner, they are a hybrid business. They also have a sign for computer and laptop repair. However, when a lady asked, the guy behind the counter said they send them out, so it must be commission on passing the laptop through. Still, having a hybrid business is a great way to maximize revenue per square foot.

Simple Tidings & Kitchen

We stopped by today and Simple Tidings is an amazing store. The left side is kitchen, the right side is everything you can imagine: candles, cards, the kinds of soaps that make good presents for the ladies, gifts, refrigerator magnets ( we bought one that said "When words are both true and kind they can change the world. The back of the store has tons of signs. Kathy wanted to find a card for one of her friends that is going through some struggles. Interesting note, she only found one card with scripture.

I tried to find some turmeric, or turmeric extract, I guess Indian food may not be that popular in Sumner :) And best of all, they were open on a Monday when a considerable number of historic district shops are closed.

http://bonneylake-sumner.patch.com/

I was reading the Sumner Downtown Association September Newsletter and they mentioned advertising with Patch.com. I had never heard of that, so I went to the site. Looks like a fairly useful source of local news! Give it a try.

AJ's Treasure Shack

We stopped by AJ's Treasure Shack ( they are open on Sundays) to see if we could find a silver plated serving spoon. We did and it was six dollars. Of course the danger of a shop like that is an impulse purchase and now I have a copy of "Ghost Stories of the Great Northwest". We also picked up some stationary since Paper Muse has gone out of business.

Alicia (Lisa) was her usual friendly self greeting each customer as they came in. Today it rained on and off and while we were in the store so we stayed and chatted with our neighbors Bob and Sandy who also walked in.

The maple trees are in full bloom and it really put a fine light on Main Street in Sumner.

And as I sign off, congratulations to the broker of the quarter Myra Corcoran.

Tiny's Tire

I had the pleasure of having my truck’s tires serviced at Tiny’s Tire Factory in Sumner this afternoon. The reason for my visit was the tire pressure light had come on so I decided I should have it checked out. While I was at it, I might as well have the tires rotated as it was about time for that maintenance. Because Tiny’s was just around the corner, I decided to give them a try. When I arrived, I was greeted promptly. I told the service manager that the light came on and that I’d like them to check it out as well as rotate the tires. He said that’d be no problem and that the tires were likely just low on air. I was in and out within the time estimation I was given and the issue was in fact just low air. I was happy with Tiny’s for their customer service, reasonable prices and no up-sale pressure offering services that were not needed. I will use them again and would be happy to refer anyone there.

El Charro

El Charro in Fredericksburg VA has been one of my favorite restaurants for 30 years so when I saw the sign on Main St in Sumner, I was very excited. As we drove up, we could tell this is popular with the locals because they were voting with their tires in the parking lot.

We arrived earlier than usual, about 5:30 PM, but things were already hopping. It was mostly an older crowd.

The salsa service was fine, a nice sauce, but the water glasses were teeny. Compare and contrast that with Margaritas at Emerald Downs that brings a pitcher of water to the table. We ordered; I had the chicken enchildas, Kathy ordered Pollo la crema. Both the menu and entrees were OK, not exceptional.

Service was minimal. I can't find my receipt, but when I went up to the payment counter, I remember thinking that for what you get, it is just a shade high.

The purpose of this research project is that we are considering buying or leasing some commercial property and starting a business in Sumner over the next few years. Even though I have worked in a number of restaurants and am a fairly well known private chef on Kauai, I don't want to open a restaurant because it is such hard work. El Charro has settled on a path of targeting the lower end. Nothing wrong with that, Sumner needs affordable choices. But you have to wonder if something a little higher end like the chain Margaritas or something modeled after Frida's in Anacortes would quickly grab market share and increase profits for the owner. One thing I would consider doing is hooking up with a source for Mexican original paintings, hang them on the walls and put a price on them.

Update: November 6, 2012. Flavio Ramos and his son Flavio Jr were working the restaurant. We came even earlier and since it was a Tuesday, we virtually had the place to ourselves. Flavio Jr. made some recommendations, including a vegetarian enchilada that is his own creation. Kathy tried it and loved it. I had the steak ala diablo, it was great. And the kicker? Flavio is selling his restaurant and business. It is not time for us to take on a business, but it is a nice building and the restaurant is laid out very efficiently.

Windmill Bistro

My friends Shanda and Rudy and Kathy and I got to visit this lovely restaurant on Saturday October 6. It was my third visit. I was a bit nervous as I pulled into the parking lot, it was nearly full.

Turns out Sumner High was having their homecoming and it was so fun seeing the boys and girls all dressed up. And they were able to seat us right as we walked in. We ordered a bottle of Petite Syrah called Crusher. The have a small wine list, but the selections are well chosen.

Shanda had the Shrimp Scampi, she really enjoyed it, but it was too much food for her and she got a box and finished it off for Sunday lunch. Rudy ordered the Planked Cedar Salmon and said it was fabulous. Kathy and I both ordered the Olive Roasted Chicken, that was very tasty, rich mashed potatoes and fire roasted asparagus rounded out the plate. Generous portions and we both shared a box, we will finish off the meal tonight. We also ordered their Chocolate Torte to share; also excellent.

Service was prompt and attentive, we had two people monitoring our table, but the receipt says our server was Denise. Cost was 105.44 before gratuity. One curiosity, the menu listed the bottle of Petite Syrah as $32.95, but the receipt says 24.95, maybe I missed a special of some sort.

Sorci's Italian Cafe

Saturday was my second visit to Scorci's and I went with three of my friends. We got there right at 11:30 because the tables can fill up fast. We elected to eat inside, my friends are from Hawaii and it was about 60 degrees. The table we selected had a cross breeze and we moved and put Shanda in the sun streaming in from the window. Our server, Jeremy said we should not sit there, if a large group came in he would have to move us, it was reserved for six people. We moved, ordered our food, another group of four came in and Jeremy promptly seated them at the six person table (#gofigure).

Other than that we had a fine experience. Shanda had the Crab Manicotti and a Side Caesar and asked for Anchovies. She thought the salad was excellent, but the crab disappeared in the dish. This is actually a common problem when using Dungeness Crab, I have had this happen at other restaurants. Rudy had a bowl of Minnestrone soup and the Meatball Sliders. He said the soup was the best rendition of Minnestrone he had ever tasted and he should know, he has opened and managed five different restaurants as well as a luxury resort in Tahiti. Kathy had the Toscano White Pizza with no meat and their gluten free crust option. It was a lovely white sauce pizza and we all got to taste it. I had a slice of pizza and one of Rudy's sliders. If you go to Scorci's and I do recommend the place, I think you would be wise to skip the meatball slider. The bread gets really soggy and while the Marinara ( I think ) sauce is a fine sauce, it doesn't quite work in this context. The meatball is lovely.

Despite the seating whoopsie, the service was excellent. I ordered ice tea and was a bit thirsty, every time I drank my tea down, Jeremy was right there with a pitcher to fill it up. My companions all had water and I noticed the same thing with their glasses.

Total price of the meal before gratuity was $58.69.

After two visits, my biggest suggestion is to carefully study the menu. Someone is clearly working hard to develop creative renditions of Italian food. They are also sensitive to the whole gluten problem, if you are avoiding gluten, you will have no problem with the menu here. Scorci's advertises a wine tasting on Thursdays from 5 - 7 and that would probably be fun.

Heritage Bank

I have accounts with three banks in Sumner:

Bank of America

Heritage Bank

US Bank

Of the three, when I go to Bank of America or US Bank, I feel faceless and anonymous. They are not mean or anything, in fact they are cordial, but I do not feel like they know me as a customer. Not so when we go to Heritage Bank. They know us on sight; they ask about where we have been and tell us about their own families and life. It feels more like belonging.

I did not renew a CD once in time and it rolled over to .000001% interest and they backdated it to give me a bit over one per cent interest. Another time, I needed to get money to a contractor and Kathy called them and arranged it over the phone ( I didn't think that was possible). Yet another time we wanted to get our arms around commercial real estate in Sumner and they introduced us to Sandra Ramsey. Even though we did not have an appointment she graciously spent a half hour with us and hooked us up with contacts.

By the way, you may be wondering why I have so many bank accounts. You should consider doing the same thing; I do security for a living and there is a lot of online fraud happening. So here is an idea to consider.

Have one account for your direct deposit from your paycheck. Do not use that account for *anything* other than to move money to two other banks. One bank we use for online bill pay. The other bank for savings and investments. Here is the kicker though, move the same amount of money every time. By only transferring money to two other banks and always the same amount, if someone ever tried to defraud the account your paycheck is deposited into fraud detection software should pick that up and alert. I only transfer enough money to pay bills to the bill pay account since it is probably the account at greatest risk. Finally, on the savings and investing bank, I do not have a debit card and do not allow online access. Nothing is perfect, but this should be a step in the right direction.

Heritage bank was selected as the Sumner Downtown Association Member of the month in September 2012.

Sumner Retail ( part 2)

Diversify they all tell us! Small cap, mid cap, large cap, ETFs, mutual funds, international, bonds and CDs. And I get it, having all one's eggs in one basket is foolish. However, during the great recession bonds and CDs were the only investments I had that did not drop. But buying bonds and CDs today with such a small interest rate is hard to do. If it were not for the exercise of selling stocks that appreciate more than 20% and using that money for bonds, I just could not make myself do it.

So what about a small business as a way to diversify? On the weekends, Kathy and I like to visit some of the small towns around Seattle and one of our favorite is a tiny town called Sumner. They have these festivals and block off Main Street ( yes, it really is called Main Street) and the people wander around the shops. There is commercial property available for both lease and purchase; they have not fully recovered from the recession.

Sumner is a cute town, they have a historic district with several antique shops and various knick knack stores. There are also a few stores that are real draws.

One of them is Sugar Babies. It started out as a consignment for kids clothes that have been outgrown seven years ago. Now it is huge! And if you want to find the perfect adorable outfit for that grandchild you love to spoil, this is your place. It is big enough to draw people from Federal Way, Auburn, Puyallup just to shop there and during the festivals people are likely to drive down from Seattle or Tacoma.

Another fantastic store is Sumner Woodworker Store. Wood for projects, power and hand tools, it is all there with an incredibly knowledgable staff that love what they do. Again, you will find people drive from fairly far away to come here. They even have coffee and comfortable chairs.

But the mother of all retail stores is The Old Cannery. 10 acres under roof, of furniture, art, talking robots, the largest model train I have ever seen. It is bar none, the largest furniture store I have ever seen. And people will drive a good distance to visit this place especially in the holiday season, they really do it right and as it says on their web site, "The Old Cannery is all about making furniture buying fun and hassle free." Almost every piece of furniture in my house is from the Cannery.

Every town needs a used book store and Sumner has A Good Book Cafe. Not sure where the "cafe" comes from, I did not see any food, but they stay pretty busy and they have a unique business model; they want you to bring the books back after you read them and they give you a discount on the additional books you buy.

There is one more thing that makes Sumner special; the train station. As you drive around Sumner you will notice a larger than normal collection of public parking lots. Commuters to Tacoma and Seattle come from all the surrounding areas, Buckley, Enumclaw, Lake Tapps, Bonney Lake, to park and ride to work. If you had a store within walking distance that was designed to pull those commuters in before they went home, you could strike paydirt.

Retail Business in Sumner (part 1)

My thesis is that Sumner Washington has a number of factors that could help create a successful business. But I would like to look for whitespace, something that is not already being done. There are two chiropractors/massage clinics, two pizza places, four nails salons all on or just a block off Main Street.

And if one considering retail you hope to find an idea that is unique enough that you aren't a "me too" and also not be essentially the same stock they carry in the Fred Meyer that is also on Main Street. If you are not familiar with Fred Meyer, think Wal-Mart Supercenter. There are two existing stores that I believe fill that bill:

The Bonney Lake Bicycle Shop of Sumner, has a solid line of bikes and accessories, friendly and knowledgeable staff. They service bikes, they will custom order a bike and help fit the rider to the bike, not just size, but for the intended use. Kathy and I got our bikes on Kauai from the local shop and that has been great. In Richmond VA, I tried to save money and we bought them from Costco. I adjusted the handlebars and brakes, but something just feels slightly off when we ride them.

Affordable Guitars is another example of really filling a niche. They say you can never have too many guns, knives, or guitars, so they get repeat business. The owner is friendly and knowledgable ( starting to see a trend here). He is also fairly picky about which product lines he will and will not carry, but will tell you where you can find what you are looking for if he does not carry it. And he has an awesome inventory of vintage guitars and amps that will take you back thirty years in a flash.

On the other hand, as I study Sumner, I think I see two businesses that are not as poised for long term success though I truly wish them both the best. They are both awesome stores and Sumner is a richer place for both of them.

Sumner Appliance is a lovely shop and the town is lucky to have this resource. They will make you welcome if you wander in the store and it is more than just appliances, they have cabinets and such so if you are doing new construction or a remodel in the area it makes sense to wander in. My concern from a business perspective is that the Sears and Costco's of the world will undercut their pricing and many contractors have wholesale suppliers. On the other hand, have you been in a Sears lately? I dropped into one to get a couple Craftsman rubber hoses. Very little foot traffic, not many employees. Sumner Appliance may just have the last laugh.

I love cooking stores and The Simple Kitchen/Simple Tidings is no exception. Once again, you will be given a friendly greeting and find the staff know their way around a kitchen. They are even having a knife sharpening workshop. Nothing makes me sadder than a dull kitchen knife. And they have a great selection. My concern for this business model is that Fred Meyer just up the street has a large selection of cooking gear and at a lower price in many cases. Also, many people like to purchase their high end cooking equipment using the Internet. I know when we moved to Seattle, I bought my kitchen knives, flatware, pots and pans and our place settings from online sources. That said, anyone that loves to cook loves to browse a cooking store and that may lead to enough impulse purchases to keep the cash register humming.